After 31 years in prison, Nalini Sriharan wants to join daughter in UK

When asked about the chances of meeting the Gandhi family and other victim families of the blast that killed Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, she said she has no words. Nalini said she is hesitant to meet the family of Rajiv Gandhi.

Chennai: Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, speaks to reporters during a press conference after being released from prison yesterday, in Chennai, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)

“They (Gandhi family) lost their father, a dear one, and I am a person involved in that case. They must be going through that immense pain even now. Maybe, if they wish, I will meet them,” Nalini said.

When asked about Priyanka Gandhi’s visit to the Vellore Central Prison to meet her in 2008, she said it was unbelievable. “I had to touch her to make me believe… She was an angel-like… I was afraid… She wanted to ask me about her father’s assassination. She cried. I told her everything I knew. After she returned, I panicked. I prayed and fasted for her safe return (to Delhi),” Nalini said.

About other blast victims, Nalini said she shares their grief and loss. “What do I say? How will I comment about them? I am not even allowed to say that I am innocent… What do I tell the families of the victims then?…” she asked. What made the charges severe against Nalini was that she was the only one among the six convicts present at the blast site near Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts (L-R) Ravichandran, Nalini Sriharan, V. Sriharan alias Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar after being released from their prisons, a day after the Supreme Court’s order, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. (PTI Photo)

Nalini said her first priority is getting the formal release of Murugan, her husband and a co-convict in the case, from a special refugee prison camp in Trichy, and getting him a passport and visa to join their daughter, a green card holder who lives in the UK. “That is my first priority. My entire family is destroyed… I have to gather them in bits and pieces. We will approach the Sri Lankan High Commission for an emergency passport and documents so that our daughter can take us to the UK,” Nalini said. Being one of the four Sri Lankan nationals among the six, Murugan was taken to Trichy camp from Vellore Central Prison on Saturday evening after his formal release after 31 years of incarceration.

“From the very first day of my arrest, I was trying for my release. I faced many setbacks, I had even thought of ending my life… but every time, I tried to take my efforts like a new step,” she said.

According to her, she was not very happy when her death sentence was commuted by the then Governor Fathima Beevi in 2000 followed by an appeal made by Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi’s wife. “Because three were still on death row. All along, all seven of us (convicts) in the prisons were fighting for justice for the three convicts,” she said, adding that along with A G Perarivalan, her family too had been fighting for their release since beginning.

Referring to the 2014 Supreme Court order, which commuted the death penalty of three convicts to life term, as a “significant chapter” in their “fight for justice” and release, Nalini said the legal process was often unending in each stage. “After our arrest, it took seven years to complete the trial. After the 2014 SC order, it took another eight years for our release… Even before we were sentenced to death, we were all treated like death row inmates and were kept in solitary confinements. It was a doctor who intervened to get me permission to walk when I was pregnant,” she recalled.

She thanked former Chief Ministers the late J Jayalalithaa, and Edappadi K Palaniswami, for the Assembly resolution in 2014 and the cabinet recommendation in 2018 seeking their release. She also thanked Chief Minister M K Stalin for taking efforts for their release from the first day he assumed the office. “Only because I got the parole from this government that I was able to fight in SC for my release,” she said, adding that her meeting with Stalin is not on the cards as she doesn’t want to bring trouble to him.”